Tying device for typewriting machines



Dec. 29, 19,25. 1,567,052

7 W. F. HELMOND TYING DEVICE FOR TYPEWHITING MACHINES Filed Jan. 28. 1921 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Dec. 29, 1925. 1,567,052

W. F. HELMOND TYING DEVICE FOR TYPEWRITING MACHINES Filed Jan. 28, 1921 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Dec. 29, 1925 W. F. HELMOND TYING DEVICE FOR TYPEWRITING MACHINES Filed Jan. 28, 1921 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Dec. 29, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM F. HELMOND, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO UNDERWOOD TYPEWRITER COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

TYING DEVICE FOR TYPEWRITING MACHINES.

Application filed January 28, 1921.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM F. HELMOND, a citizen of the United States, residing in Hartford, in the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tying Devices for Typewriting Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a new method of tying together the movable and fixed parts of a typewriting machine for shipping purposes, and is here shown as applied, for ex ample, to an Underwood standard typewriting machine.

are provided sleeves adapted to fit on the rear rail and having projections adapted to engage the sides of the carriage to limit its motion to the right and left. Each sleeve is adapted to engage a bracket supporting the rear rail and to be fixed against lateral movement. The rojections on each sleeve are so positioned tliat they will engage the end walls of the carriage when the latter is centrally positioned with respect to the fixed frame of the machine. Since the distance from the brackets supporting the rear rail to the end walls of the centrally-disposed carriage varies with carriages of different sizes, the projections on the sleeves must be variously dis osed with respect to the sleeves. Several s eeves are therefore provided, having their projections spaced at diflerent points laterally along the surface and adapted to be used with various sized carriages. Each sleeve is provided with a set of adjacent slots in its periphery, through which is adapted to pass a band of flexible metal having a ring or round wire loop at one end. The

band encircles a portion of the platenframe and also the tabulator frame, and returns to the loop o ring, through which it is drawn, and then bent back sharply. The band engages the tabulator frame, and the latter is rocked forwardly to lift the carriage rack from the escapement pinion. The band will Serial No. 440,618.

be held firmly in place and is easily released when the machine has reached its destination. The platen-frame and the carriage are thus held at the rear against movement away from the rear rail. Similar bands are provided at the front of the machine to tie the front bar of the carriage to the fixed crossmembers at the front of the machine, to prevent the carriage from being displaced from the scale plate associated with the margin-gage. In this case, however, the bands do-not pass through sleeves, and are made somewhat wider to resist severe strain.

At the rear of the machine where the bands are drawn through slots in the sleeves, each sleeve may be provided with an addition set of slots which would obviate the use of loops or rings at the ends of the bands. After passing around a portion of the carriage frame, the bands are drawn through the second set of slots instead of through the loops or rings, to prevent movement of the platen-frame relative to the main carriage frame. Bands are provided at the ends of the carriage frame, said bands passing around the end walls of the platenframe and main carriage frame.

The sleeves are made of rigid metal and can be used repeatedly.

Inasmuch as typewriters, when shipped, are supported in'inverted position in the shipping cases, it is obviously necessary to secure the platen-frame and the carriage firmly in position on the typewriter-frame.

Other features and advantages will here in-after appear.

In the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1 is a plan view of an Underwood standard typewriting machine, showing the invention applied thereto, only the necessary co-operating elements of the machine being shown.

Figure 2 is a rear view of the machine, showing the parts engaged by the flexible metal bands.

Figure 3 is a section through the side of the carriage, showing the method of tying the platen-frame to the main carriage frame.

Figure 4 is an end view, partly sectioned, showing the parts engaged by the flexible bands at the front and rear of the machine, the rear bands being shown in co-operation with the sleeves.

Figure 5 is an end view, showing the rear of the machine, the flexible bands in this case not passing through the slots in the sleeves. Figure 6fis a' rear view of the method of utilizing the flexible bands as illustrated in Figure 5. H g

'FigureT isa vieWof-a sleeve applied to the rearr'ail, and adapted'for use in machines having carriages 14 or inches in length. Figure 8 is a vie-w similar to Figure, 7, showing a sleeve adapted for use with car- .-riages1of 12 or 18 inchesin length.

Figure 9 is a view similar to F igureZ,

showinga sleeve adapted-for use with carriages of 10 or 16 inches in length.

Figure 10 is a view of one of the flekible bands provided with a ring.

ing carriages of .16, 18 and 20 inches in length, relative to the size of the bracket in a 10-inch machine shown in Figure 9.

A carriage.1,seeFigure 4, is mounted to travel on a frontrail 2 and a rear rail 3 on the fixed frame 4 of a typewriting machine.

The earriage comprises a platen-frame 10, The i in which is journaled a platen 11. platen-frame isjconnected at its ends with arms 12 fixed to ;a rock-shaft 13 journaled .in bearings 14forming. part of the main carriage frame, and. isprovided at its rear with a paper-table .15. Projecting fromthe rear of the platen-frame are brackets 16 shaped to provide portions, 17, parallel to 5 the rock-shaft 13, and upwardly and rearwardly-extending ends, in which is supported arod 171? to furnish a mounting for the. usual side-gages ,(notshown) ,l The fixed portion-of the. machine comprises on each side thereof a rear bracket 20 in which is -.shown) whose upper 1 ends co-operate; with pivoted the .lower bar 21 0f v a tabulator frame having 1 an upper graduated scalebar j 22.5and connecting v bars 23. In this frame may be mounted tabulator stops '(not said scale-bar. At the front, the fixed frame carries ascalexplate 24, with which cooperatethe index .fin gers :25 of the. margin-stops 26, slidable along fixedrods 27.-

IRe-ferring toFigure 4,: it will be noted that -therearj rail 3 is=fiXed to bracket. 20"

' by a'i (jOlIrID'ZtI'iLtiVQlED-thifig lip 30. A; sleeve 31'is provided-withaslot 32 running lengthwisethereof s aid 'slot'be1ng'*of a width sufficient to} allow -,th e- 'lii:) 30 to slide therein,

and thus eenable sleeve. 31 to'be slid on the rear rail.- Each sleeve is of slightly greater.

diameter than the rear rail .to allow easy movement thereon, but not sufficient to allow lateral play. At a certain portioniof its length, the sleeve is provided with a semicircumferential cut-out portion 33 of a width slightly greater than that of lip 30 and symmetrically positioned on either side of the slot 32. The sleeve is slid over the rear rail with. the left-hand end 34 (see Figure 11) first, the lip 30 being enclosed in slot 32. When the cut-out portion 33 reaches the lip 30, the sleeve can be rotated a quarter-turn to the position shown in Figure :4, the cut-out portion fitting over the lip 30. The slot 32 is now. turned out of the path of lip 30, which abuts against the sides of cut-out portion 33. The sleeve is thus held firmly in position against lateral movement.

Each sleeve is provided at its uppersurface (referring to the position of the sleeve in Figure 4) with a tongue 40 cut from the surface and bent right-angularly to form a projection. It can be seen in Figure 4 that the tongues are directly in the path of'the carriage, and, if a sleeve is applied to the right-hand end of the rear rail, it will prevent movement of the carriage toward the right when the left end of the machine is elevated. Since the carriage rack 42 is releasedfrom the escapement pinion 43, as will be described hereinafter, a second sleeve applied at the left-hand end of therear rail will prevent movement of the carriage'toward the left. The tongues are positioned. 011 the sleeves in such manner that they each contact with a side o-f the carriage'fraine. when vthe carriage is "centrally positioned with respect to the main frame, and when the cut-out portion 33 is hooked over lip 30. Since thesame bracket 20 is used in machines having 10, 12 or 14 inch carriages, it is obvious that the tongue on each sleeve will have to be placed one inch further out for a 12-inch carriagethan fora lO-inch carriage, and two inches further out for a 14-inch carriage- Figures 7 8 and 9 show three sleeves engaging the same size bracket and the relative positioning of the tongue on each sleeve. The sleeve shown in Figure 7 isto be-u'sed for a 14-inch carriage, the sleeve in Figure 8 for a- 12-inch carriage, and the sleeve in Figure 9,,for-a 10-inch carriage. Similarly, the brackets in machineshaving carriages of 16,18 or 20 inches are the same in'each case, and thesleeve used on a machine havingan 18-inch carriage musthave a tongue positioned one inch further out than one used in a 16-inch carriage, and a machine having a 20-inch carriage musthave a tongue positioned two inches further out. The'sleeve used for a 10-inch carriage may beused for a 16-inch carriage, the sleeve for a 12-inch carriage may be used for an 18-inch carriage, and the sleeve for a 14-inchcarriage may b used for a 20-inchcarriage. i

fixed frame of the machine.

When the proper sleeves are applied to the rear rail, one engaging each bracket, the tongues will abut against the carriage frame at each end thereof to prevent lateral movement to the right and left. To guard against movement of the carriage in avertical direction, each sleeve is provided with adjacent slots 41 in its periphery, adjacent the tongue and on the side toward the center of the machine, the solid strip of metal between the slots forming a strap or bridge 41 slightly elevated, and positioned longitudinally of the sleeve and the rail. A fiat, flexible metal ribbon 51 is passed through and looped around a ring 52 substantially at its middle. The ends 50 of said ribbon are brought together to form a strap and are passed together over the portion 17 of the bracket 16. thence downward to the sleeve 31 through the slots 41 from front to rear, underneath the graduated bar 22 of the tabulator-frame, and finally through the ring 52. The ends 50 are then drawn tightly and bent abruptly back on themselves to form a bight for firmly holding the parts in place.

It is to be noted that no auxiliary or supplementary devices, as clamps, keepers, yokes, binders or bars, are used in connection with the strap, it being self-locking in operation when applied, and further, as the strap is of two-ply construction, it is easily bent into engaging position or released from the ring by bending each ply separately. It will be seen that the carriage is thus tied to the fixed frame of the machine against vertical movement, and, by drawing bar 22 forwardly, the carriage rack 42 is at the same time released from the pinion 43 of the escapement mechanism, thus preventing any injury to the latter, (see Figures 2 and 4:).

When the bar 22 is drawn forward, an arm 44 on the bar 21 will depress the rear end of a lever 45 fulcrumed on a pivot 46, and, by means of a wheel or roll 47 on the forward end of the lever, lift the rack 42 out of mesh with the pinion 43.

Instead of using the ring 52 to secure the ends of the tie-member 51, an additional set of slots 53 (see Figure 12) may be provided in each sleeve, and the ends of the flexible bands drawn therethrough and bent back on themselves.

The tie-member 51 may be utilized alone to tie the carriage at various points to the Thus at the front (see Figures 1 and 4:), the band may be passed around the margin-gage scale plate and the front bar 55 of the carriage, and returned to the ring 52 where it is bent back, as previously described. A strip of cardboard 56 may be interposed between the band and the machine to prevent injury to the finish of the latter. When the tie-memher is used alone, there is employed a somewhat wider strip than in the cases when used with the sleeve, in order to provide a larger bearing surface.

Similarly, these tie-members may be utilized to bind the shifting and the main frames of the carriage together near the front of the platen, as shown in Figures 1 and 3. The bands are passed around the side plates 60 of the platen-frame and beneath the side bars 61 of the main carriage frame, and are drawn through rings 52 and bent back as usual. A strip of cardboard 62 may be inserted to prevent injury to the finish of the machine.

In larger machines, it may be advantageous to utilize several additional tie-members between the rock shaft 13 of the carriage and the bar 22 of the tabulator frame, (see Fig ures 5 and 6), to tie the carriage to the fixed frame of the machine and raise the carriage rack from the escapement pinion.

Variations may be resorted to within the scope of the invention, and portions of the improvements may be used without others.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In combination with a typewriting machine having a fixed frame and a movable carriage, means for tying said machine to prevent movement of the parts thereof, said means comprising sleeves mounted on the fixed frame of the machine and provided with projections adapted to abut against the carriage to prevent lateral movement of said carriage, said sleeves being removable at will, and means engaging said sleeves and carriage for preventing vertical movement of said carriage.

2. In combination with a typewriting machine having a fixed frame, a carriage and front and rear rails carried by said frame and upon which said carriage runs, means for tying said machine to prevent movement of the parts thereof, said means comprising sleeves mounted upon the rear rail and provided with projections adapted to abut against said carriage to prevent lateral m vement of said carriage, said sleeves being removable at will, each of said sleeves having a set of adjacent slots, and means passing through said slots and engaging the carriage for preventing vertical movement of said carriage.

3. In combination with a typewriting machine having a fixed frame, a carriage and front and rear rails carried by said frame and upon which said carriage runs, means for tying said machine to prevent movement of the parts thereof, said means comprising sleeves mounted upon the rear rail and provided with projections adapted to abut against the carriage to prevent lateral movement of said carriage, said sleeves being removable at will, each of said sleeves havin a set of adjacent slots, and a flexible ban passing through said slots and engaging the a bridge portion .therebetween, and a flexible band connected to the bridge portion of one set of slots and adapted to engage a portion of said carriage and pass through the other set of slots, said flexible band being adapted to be bent back upon itself after passing thr'oughthe last-named slots to tie said carriage to said frame and prevent vertical movement of said carriage.

5. In combination with a typewriting machine having a fixed frame, a carriage and front and rear rails upon which said carriage runs, said fixed frame having brackets adapted to carry said rear rail, means for tying said machine to prevent movement of the parts thereof, said means comprising sleeves mounted upon the rear rail and having cut-out portions adapted to engage said brackets to fix said sleeves against lateral movement, and having also slots enabling said sleeves to be removed at will, said sleeves having projections adapted to abut against the carriage to prevent lateral movement of said carriage, and means engaging saidsleeves and said carriage to prevent vertical movement of said carriage.

6. In combination with a typewriting niachine having a fixed frame, a carriage and front and rear rails upon which said carriage runs, said fixed frame having brackets adapted tocarry saidrear rail near each end thereof, means for tying said machine to prevent movement of the parts thereof, said means comprising sleeves mounted'upon the rear rail, one near each end thereof and having cut-out portions adapted to engage said brackets to fix said sleeves against lateral movement, and having also slots enabling said sleeves to be removed at will, each of said sleeves having a. projection on its periphery, said projections being so positioned as to engage the carriage at either end thereofand prevent lateral movement thereof when said carriage is-centrally positioned with respect to the fixed frame, and means engaging said sleeves and said carriage to prevent vertical movement of said carriage.-

.7. Iii-combination with a typewriting machine'having a fixed frame, a movable carriage comprising a tabulator frame and escapeinent mechanism, including a pinion mounted on said frame and. a rack on said carriage adapted to mesh with said pinion,.

said tabulator frame being operatively connected with said rack, means for tying said machine to prevent movement of the parts chine having a fixed frame, ainovable carriagecomprising a tabulator frame and escapement mechanism, including a pinion mounted on said frame and a rack on said carriage adapted'to mesh with said pinion,

said tabulator framebeing'operatively con nected with said rack, 'meansfor tying said machine to prevent movement of'the parts thereof, said means comprising means mounted on the fixed frame of the machine and abutting against said carriage to pre' vent lateral movement of said carriage, and

a fiexibleband engaging said last-named meansand the tabulator frame of said carriage to prevent vertical movement of the carriage and to rock said tabulator frame forwardly to raise said rack from said pinion;

9. A device for use in preparing for shipinent a typewriting machine having a fixed frame, a carriage, and a rail on which said carriage travels, said frame having at each side a lip by which the rail is attached thereto, said device being in the form of a sleeve to be placed on an end of said rail, said sleeve having a lug to engage the adjacent end of the carriage to'prevent longitudinal movementof the. carriage relative to the fixed frame and having a longitudinal slot to receive the adjacent lip and a slot perpendicular to the longitudinal slot at the inner end thereof to embrace said lip so that the sleeve may be moved along the rail until the perpendicular slot is brought opposite the adjacentlip and the sleeve then turned to final position with the ends of the perpendicular slot abutting the ends of said lip to fix the longitudinal position of the sleeve with reference to theframe, and position the lug on the sleeve toengage the carriage and prevent movement thereof from a central position. 1 i

10. In combination with a typewriting machine having a fixed frame, a carriage and a rail on which said carriage travels, said frame having at each side alip. by which the rail is attached thereto, means for use in shipping to hold said carriage against endwise movement-and comprising means sleeves to be placed on the ends of said rail, each of said sleeves having a lug to engage the adjacent end of said carriage and having a longitudinal slot to receive the adjacent lip, so that the sleeve may be moved inwardly to the proper position and then turned so as to be held by the adjacent lip against outward movement.

11. In combination with a typewriting machine having a fixed frame, a carriage and a rail on which said carriage travels, said frame having at each side a lip by which the rail is attached thereto, means for use in shipping to hold said carriage against endwise movement and comprising sleeves to be placed on the ends of said rail, each of said sleeves having alug to engage the adjacent end of said carriage and having a longitudinal slot to receive the adjacent 11p, and a slot perpendicular to the longitudinal slot, so that the sleeve may be moved inwardly until the perpendicular slot is brought opposite the adjacent lip and the sleeve then turned to final position with the end of the perpendicular slot abutting against said lip.

12. In combination with a typewrlting machine having a fixed frame, a carriage and a rail on which said carriage travels, said frame having at each side a lip by which the rail is attached thereto, meansfor use in shipping to hold said carriage against endwise movement and comprising stop members for the ends of the carriage to engage the same and hold it against endwise movement from its central position, each of said stop members and said rail having a bayonet-joint connection whereby the stop members may be inserted over the end of the rail, moved inwardly to the proper position and there locked by being turned around said rail.

13. The combination with a typewritlng machine having a fixed frame, a platen, a platen-frame, a carriage in wh1ch said platen-frame is shiftable, and a rail on which said carriage travels, said fixed frame having at each side a lip by which the rail is attached thereto, of means for use in shipping to hold movable parts of the machine against movement with respect to the fixed frame and comprising sleeves to be placed on the ends of said rail, each of said sleeves having a portion to engage the adjacent end of said carriage and having a longitudinal slot to receive the adjacent lip and a slot perpendicular to the longitudinal slot, so that the sleeve may be moved inwardly until the perpendicular slot is opposite the lip and the sleeve then turned to final position with the end of the perpendicular slot against the lip, a loop projecting from the sleeve, and a flexible member passing through said loop and around a portion of said platen-frame to hold the platen-frame and the carriage against 1novement away from said rail, said loop bein so positioned that the tension of said flexible member will hold said sleeve against turning from said final position.

1a. In combination with a typewriting machine having a fixed frame, a platen, a platen-frame comprising a rear paper-table, a side-gage supporting red at the rear of the upper part of the paper-table, brackets for said rod projecting from the rear of the platen-frame and having portions extending parallel to said rod, a carriage in which said platerrframe is shiftable, and a rail on which said carriage travels, means for preventing movement of said carriage and said platen-frame relative to the fixed frame comprising sleeves fitted over the ends of the rail and secured thereto in position to engage the ends of the platen-frame, and flexible binding means engaging said sleeves and the portions of said brackets extending parallel to the rod to hold the platen-frame and carriage against movement away from said rail.

15. The combination with a typewriting machine having a fixed frame comprising a cross-bar at the upper front portion thereof and a rail at the rear thereof, a carriage slidable along said rail and comprising side bars and a front bar adjacent said cross-bar, and a platen-frame shiftable in said carriage, of means for preventing movement of said carriage and said platen-frame relative to said fixed frame, comprising sleeves lit-- ted over the ends of the rail and engaging the ends of the platen-frame to prevent endwise movement of the platen-frame, and secured against outward movement on the rail, flexible binding means engaging said sleeves and said platen-frame at the rear of the latter to hold the platen-frame against movement away from said rail, flexible binding means securing the platenframe near the front thereof to the side bars of the carriage, and flexible binding means securing the front bar of the carriage to said cross-bar of the fixed frame.

lVILLIAM F. HELMOND. 

